Kofi Annan wants answers from Syria

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (UPI) -- The crisis in Syria, entering its second year, can't be allowed to drag on, the special envoy to the United Nations and the Arab League said.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is acting as a joint special envoy to the crisis in Syria. During weekend meetings in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Annan said a solution to the crisis lies in "political settlement."

"The transformational winds blowing today cannot be long-resisted," Annan said in a statement. "I have urged the president to heed the old African proverb: 'You cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail.'"

Anan's office said it received a response from Damascus but "has questions and is seeking answers" from the government.

Jihad Maqdisi, a spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency as saying Damascus was committed to Annan's initiative.

"We are committed to make a success of Annan's mission providing that it goes in line with the Syrian specificity and that requires the international and regional efforts be brought together, particularly those which are hindering the political solution and instigating and calling for arming the Syrian inside to pour oil on the fire," he said.

Damascus maintains its dealing with domestic terrorists. U.N. officials have suggested referring the Syrian government to the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes.